An “earthquake” shook the Cologne Justice Center on Monday. At least that's what a source told FOCUS online about the environment when the country's best-known prosecutor announced her departure from public service in emails to her colleagues. Attorney General Anne Brorhilker is leaving. The head of the largest Cum-Ex department in Germany has resigned and joined the “Citizens' Movement for Financial Transition”, which for years has been trying to clarify the background of the largest tax theft related to Cum-Ex share transactions.

Cum-Ex chief investigator gives up: Green Minister needs an explanation

There is speculation in the media and in state politics about the motives. With the departure of the stubborn prosecutor, Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens) once again needs an explanation. The legal policy spokesperson of the SPD opposition, Elisabeth Müller-Witt, considers the Green politician responsible:

“When a senior official resigns, the question arises to what extent the state government bears responsibility. Minister of Justice Limbach has caused unprecedented discontent with his personnel policy, both in the prosecutor's office and in the courts. “Now we have to clarify why a highly qualified and successful official turns her back on the country.”

Brorhilker himself commented on it in an interview for “WDR”. “I have always been a prosecutor with heart and soul, especially in the area of ​​economic crimes, but I am not at all satisfied with the way financial crimes are prosecuted in Germany,” he said. “Often these are perpetrators with a lot of money and good contacts, who encounter a weak justice system.”

Furthermore, defendants could often simply buy their way out of the proceedings if, for example, the proceedings were dismissed in exchange for a fine. “So we came to the conclusion: the little ones are hanged and the big ones are let go,” says Brorhilker.

Brorhilker: Problems with the Green Minister of Justice of NRW

Frustrated, someone who was considered an inflexible character and who last year even inflicted a serious defeat on the Minister of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia, changes sides. Limbach wanted to share his department with about 30 prosecutors to speed up the 120 criminal proceedings involving 1,700 defendants and 40 banks.

Limbach also publicly accused Cum-Ex's chief investigator of delaying the delivery of huge volumes of files on the Hamburg cases to the local parliamentary investigation committee. As it turned out, the opposite happened. The minister had to back down. Brorhilker remained the sole head of the department and was assigned four more positions.

Apparently a pyrrhic victory. Despite extensive staffing, former prosecutors lack support from police investigators and prosecutors. “Evaluating the enormous sums of the different procedures takes too much time,” explains a prosecutor familiar with the matter. “I think the colleague realized that her idea of ​​putting everyone in the hot seat had failed.”

Brorhilker wanted to bring everyone to justice, but ultimately failed

The effort alone to interrogate the large number of foreign defendants, for example from the financial center of London, or bring them to court is not feasible. Unlike the Hessian economic investigators, who focused on the big players in the cum-ex circle, Brorhilker also wanted to bring people from the lower levels to trial.

In some cases, it would be more prudent to stop the process in exchange for a large fine rather than taking everyone to court. It was said that Cum-Ex's chief prosecutor ultimately failed because of this. As general director of the NGO “Financial Transition Citizen Movement”, Brorhilker wants to promote the fight against financial crimes.